Animal Summer
by The Great Allie
Summary: What is the deal with Animal Town? Jewel is staying here for the summer, so she might as well enjoy it, but between singing statues, scardy-cat ghosts, and mysterious visitors, she knows there's something off about this summer
1. Animal Town

Human Jewel was slumped over on the side of the train, sleeping lightly. Outside, a light rain was hitting the window, making a gentle, relaxing rhythm that was as good as any lullaby.

Jewel was very tired. Between work and college, she'd had a busy school year. The stress had finally gotten to her. Everybody had noticed it, her family, her roommates, and her friends. Even her spring semester teachers had noticed a dramatic slip in her grades, and rather than sign her up for summer classes, her adviser had recommended she take the summer off from work and go somewhere quiet and peaceful. Jewel had tried to argue that she didn't know anywhere peaceful and quiet, but the adviser had called up an old friend and referred her to a quiet little place called Animal Town.

"Animal Town," the adviser had said. "I used to live there when I was young. It's a nice, quiet little burg by the beach. It's the kind of place where you can spend a day lying on the grass, watching the clouds go by. Everybody there is very friendly. Look, I'll get you registered for your fall classes, and when you come back at the end of August you'll be a new woman."

Despite not knowing anyone in Animal Town, or even where Animal Town actually was, Jewel had resigned herself to the train. She wasn't looking forward to it, but if she stayed at college all summer all the people would ask her about was why she didn't go to Animal Town. Even her job, after hearing that she'd been offered a trip, had immediately given her the summer off and ushered her out the door, despite her trying to say she'd turned it down.

So here she sat, dozing on the side of the train. The glass felt nice and cool against her face, and she snuggled a bit closer to it in her sleep. The sound of footsteps down the aisle slowly woke her up. That's strange, she thought, it sounds like claws on hardwood. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, and found herself staring into the gigantic eyes of a person-shaped black and white cat.

"Oh, hi," said the cat, "is it... um, 1:37 on June 6?"

Jewel looked at him for a minute, trying to decide if she was still dreaming or not. "Um, yes," she said at last.

"Really? Oh, thanks, you're a big help." And then he laughed, "Mya ha ha ha ha ha ha howr!" Just like a cat would laugh. Except... cats don't laugh. Do they? His movements, especially in the mouth, were so realistic that it couldn't be a mask- costume mouth movement and lip-synch hadn't even been perfected yet, much less made afordable.

"So," said the cat, "do you mind if I sit here? I promise I won't fall asleep, tumble over, and start drooling on your shirt."

How kind of you. "No, go ahead," said Jewel.

"Say, thanks!" He hopped up and sat down. "No one else has an empty seat for me. I'm sure glad someone friendly like you had a seat to spare. Say, you aren't a psycho, are you? Just kidding! Mya ha ha! So, what's your name."

"... It's Jewel," said Jewel, who had decided to roll with it.

"Jewel? Hm, now that's an odd name," said the cat. "Not that my opinion matters. What matters is that you like it. My name is Rover," he added as an afterthought. "So, since we're sitting here, having a friendly talk on the train, then you won't mind me asking, where are you headed?"

"Animal Town," said Jewel. Something was slowly dawning on her.

"Oh, I know that place!" said Rover. "It's one of my favorite vacation spots."

"Yeah," said Jewel. "I'm headed there for vacation."

"That's great," said Rover. "So you must know someone there, then?"

"Um... no, actually."

"Oh. Well, then, where are you staying?"

"Well... I don't know," Jewel admitted- she hadn't really discussed that part with her adviser.

"What?" Rover yelped. "You don't know where you're moving to? Are you out of your tree? Well, then, it's settled. We've got to find you a place to live."

"I'm actually not moving there, you see, I'm just-"

"There's this buddy of mine who runs a shop in Animal Town! I'll just give him a call. You wait right here!" Rover hopped off the seat and went off to the travel phones. Jewel watched him go, and then looked around the car for the first time. When she'd boarded, it was empty. Now it had a few people sitting around. No, not people- animals. A boar woman was battling fatigue a few seats away. A white cat was sitting two seats in front of Jewel with her back to her. A dejected-looking otter in a suit with a briefcase.

Was there really a place where the animals lived like people?

Rover came back and hopped right back into his seat. "Good news," said Rover, "My buddy says that he's got a few houses for sale that you can stay in, real cheap, too! He hasn't been able to rent them, so he's happy to let you in. How much money do you have?"

"Um... it depends if there's an ATM in town. I don't carry a lot of cash."

"Oh, really?" Rover looked sad. "No wonder you look so helpless."

"Now wait a minute-"

"They say money makes the world go 'round! And what goes around comes around! Mya ha ha ha ha... wait, I've confused myself again... Oh well. Look, we're pulling up to Animal Town! Did I mention I love this place? Well, this is where you get off. Well, I'll see you around. Nice talking with you! And remember, things are never as bad as they seem. Hey, maybe we'll run into each other again sometime!"

Jewel got up and headed for the train's exit, one eye on Rover all the time. What a strange fellow. As she left the train, she noticed that, while she wasn't the only passenger on board, she really was the only human on board. With the discovery of animal people, and the lack of foresight to book a place to stay, Jewel wondered what else her adviser hadn't gone over with her.

The train slowed and slowed, and finally stopped at a tiny little train station by a cliff. A short monkey porter opened the door, calling, "Animal Town! Now arriving at Animal Town! Eek, eek! Watch your step!" Jewel was off the train watching it pull away when she realized she didn't have any luggage. Okay, that one she couldn't blame on anyone else.

Jewel stepped off the station and onto the dirt path of the town. It was a cozy, country sort of place with a lot of trees. She could see a few buildings peeking up from above the foliage, and to the south was the sea. The grass was green and fresh, the kind of grass you had to work for in the city but that just happened out in the country. The air smelled like wet leaves and salty breeze. Right away Jewel could feel herself relax, and began to understand why her adviser had told her to come here, of all places.

"Excuse me!" she heard someone call. Jewel looked for the source of the voice, and it was a large raccoon running towards her, flagging her down. Aaand, there goes the understanding. "Hey, you there! Yes, you!" He reached her, and stopped, catching his breath. "Heh... heh... hoo. Would your name happen to be Jewel?"

"Yeah," said Jewel, "how did you-"

"I just got off the phone with a friend of mine," said the raccoon. "He says you're in need of a place to stay."

"Oh. Rover, from the train?"

"Yes. I tried to be here to meet you, but I'm not in the best shape of my life." He held out a paw. "Name's Tom Nook. I'm the local businessman."

Jewel shook his hand- er, paw. "It's nice to meet you," she said.

"So, I hear you're in need of a place to live."

"Only for the summer," said Jewel.

"Well, I've got four wonderful properties here in Animal Town. Look around, take your pick! You can even move in right away, they're all ready. As soon as you decide what house is right for you, we'll talk about payment."

There were four houses, all right- four tiny, one room shacks stuck in various places throughout the town. No wonder he couldn't sell them, she thought. Nook smoothed that over with, "Oh, don't worry, you won't be spending too much time inside. There's so much to do in Animal Town. And once we're settled up with your payment, we can talk upgrading and expanding. Don't worry, you'll be right at home here."

The only real difference between the houses was the location- there was a beachfront home, one by the East natural wall of town, one on the west end of the town cliff, and one by the river and waterfall. The sound the water made falling into the pond was so soothing and pretty that Jewel picked that one right away. A waterfall estate, she thought, would be a wonderful place to sleep for the summer.

"I like this one," she said proudly, as if the house was her own accomplishment.

"Excellent choice!" said Tom Nook. "Oh, you'll love this one. Just a few decorations, maybe a nice carpet, and it will feel like home in no time. You might want to even pop into your neighbor's houses to get some ideas for your own interior designs. But be sure not to touch their things! Of course, no one would notice if you just nudged something over a little. Whoa ho ho ho ho ho! Of course, you can move your own furniture as much as you like- but you'll have to supply it yourself. You can't expect me to build the house and furnish it too, now, can you?"

"I guess-"

"Now this useful thing," said Nook, indicating a strange, clay statue by the door, "is your own personal Gyroid Assistant. This _does _come with the house. He's most useful. You can teach him to tell your neighbors when you're out, or just teach him to tell your neighbors that you _are _out, should you decide you don't feel up to company. Whoa ho ho ho ho ho!"

Jewel glanced at it, that strange fire-hydrant shaped thing with big, empty eyes, and decided to keep her distance.

"Now, the matter of price," said Nook. "With fees and closing costs, your total will come to 19,800 Bells."

"Bells?"

"Yes. You know, money."

Jewel reached into her pocket and took out her wallet. "Um... do you take American dollars? Or, um, Visa?"

"You don't mean to tell me you don't have any money!" Nook was surprised.

"No," said Jewel, gritting her teeth. Her adviser definitely had not mentioned anything about needing to change her money before she left. Jewel was going to have to have a good, long talk with that woman when she got back to college.

"Well, that's no good," said Nook. "If you don't have money, then how am I supposed to sell you a house? I can't, that's how! But... hm... you do need a place to stay... so that's no good, either. I know! You'll come and work for me at my shop. Then it's settled!"

"Wait, what's settled?"

"See you in a bit!" he said happily and trotted back off the way he came, leaving Jewel standing there stupidly, holding a wallet full of useless money.

"Thanks a lot!" she called back as angrily as she could muster. Then she ran into her house and slammed the door. Inside, she still felt like storming out of rooms and slamming doors in a huff, but there wasn't really any place to storm off to, except for the attic. Still, it was better than staying downstairs in a huff. She stomped upstairs to the tiny room, complete with one bed and a small phone. The bed was perfect for throwing a tantrum, so she slammed herself down on it and, before she could commence hollering her frustration into the pillow and kicking the sheets- she fell asleep.

Traveling is always tiring, and Jewel didn't wake up until early evening. She sat up and stretched, slowly remembering how she had spent her day but not really remembering why she had gotten so upset about it. She did feel a pang of nervousness in her stomach as she realized that she was, technically, late for work, although it really wouldn't come back to haunt her future job offers as she hadn't been properly hired or even introduced herself to him.

Anyway, it was all settled- for real this time. Jewel had decided that she wasn't going to stay in Animal Town. Being stuck in a shack in a world populated by animal people for no adequately explored reason was not her idea of a relaxing summer. It wasn't that she had anything against animal people, it was just that nonsense for the sake of nonsense rubbed her the wrong way. And this village was nothing but nonsense. Better to just contact home and tell them to get ready, she was going to spend her summer vacation at Ocean City back home, sipping margaritas on the coast of the Atlantic or something.

A phone! That's right, there was a phone right here. An old, rotary-dial phon with a long, curly cord. How long had it been since she used a phone like that? Not since she was a little girl, and even then it was only her pull-toy. As Jewel dialed she wondered vaguely whatever happened to that pull toy, but her thoughts quickly turned back to the present.

"Ring! Ring!" said a voice on the other end of the phone. "Would you like to set your town's options?"

"No, thank you," said Jewel. "I'm trying to dial out."

"Please select one of the options: Open your town to visitors-"

"Oh, a phone tree, eh?" Jewel frowned and hung up. Then she picked up the phone again and very carefully dialed her home number.

"Ring! Ring!" said that same voice. "Would you like to set your town's options?"

Jewel tried calling several different numbers- her advisor, her roommate, her brother, her father's office, but they all brought her to the same automated phone tree. Finally Jewel hung up. Obviously that phone didn't lead to any sort of outside line... it was just fun to dial on a rotary dial for some reason.

Jewel straigtened out her dress and decided to go talk to the only person she already knew in this town, Tom Nook. At least to tell him that he did not, as he seemed to think, have one new employee. And see if he knew how to contact her family. Obviously if he had a store, he had to have a phone. How could he place orders or do business without one?

She went down the creaky stairs and out the door. "SPROING!" her Gyroid said when it saw her. Jewel shrieked and bolted off in a run, stopping when it was just out of sight so she could hide behind a peach tree.

"I really hate that thing," she murmured. Then she walked more carefully back to the train station. A map there pointed out that Nook's Cranny was off to the west, so she went off on an incredibly short journey to arrive at his little country shack store. It was quaint and cozy, yet somehow it had a touch of class. There was no door, so Jewel ducked her head down and stepped in.

"Welcome to Nook's Cranny!" Tom Nook said from behind the register. "Feel free to browse, but try not to carouse!" And he laughed at his own joke. Then he recoginzed her. "Oh, Jewel! Are you ready for work?"

"No, actually."

"No?"

"No, I need to make a phone call," she explained.

"If you need to make a phone call, there's one in your house," said Nook.

"I tried that one. I need to reach an outside number."

"I don't understand."

"I need to call my mother."

"You can't do that from your phone."

"I know. Do you have a phone I could borrow?"

"No," said Nook. "There might be one in the City, though."

The City. So that meant a centralized location, probably a lot of chain stores and franchises downtown, and a major form of transportation, probably a large train station hub or an airport. Getting home shouldn't be a problem, provided they accepted real money.

"How do I get to the city?" asked Jewel.

"Just hop on the bus at the bus stop," said Nook. "But don't think about going off to have fun while there's still work to be done here."

"I can't stay here, though," said Jewel. "I came to give you the house back. I'm not staying in Animal Town and I need to go. When does the bus come?"

"It won't come until you've finished working for me," said Nook.

"No, really."

Nook reached behind the counter and pulled out a bundle of clothes. "Here- I forgot to give you your uniform earlier. Be sure to put it on so everyone knows that you're working here. It's good advertising, yes? Oh ho ho ho ho!"

Jewel had taken enough marketing classes to know that when you were the only game in town, generic advertising didn't do squat except reduce your bottom line, and she was beginning to both resent and hate Tom Nook for being what she percieved now the obstical between her and going home. Nevertheless, she changed into the uniform he gave her (reasoning that, by the time she made it to the city, the trains would have left for the day and she'd just come right back, and whatever he wanted her to do would at least be more fun that lying on the bed in her stuffy attic.)

"Here," said Nook, handing her several bags of seeds and placing a few saplings by the door. "The first thing I want you to do is spruce up the place outside. A garden of flowers and some fresh new trees should make the place look more inviting to the locals." And, with that, he left Jewel on her hands and knees in the dirt outside, contemplating whether she was still better off outside. Still, the evening air felt cool against her dirt-streaked face, and it felt good to be moving and doing something after a day of sitting on a stuffy train.

About the time she got the last sapling in the ground, Nook came outside. "Oh marvelous! You made it look beautiful!" he said happily. "I knew you would, though."

Jewel wiped the sweat off of her brow. "Thanks," she said. She was pleased with the way it turned out- she'd taken two saplings and put them on either side of the door, a ways forward, as if they were standing sentinel in front of the store. As they grew they would make it look mighty. On the side of the store she'd made one flower bed, color coordinated to make the same pattern seen on his apron and her uniform.

Nook nodded his approval. "Now, before it gets too late, I want you to make a few deliveries for me. This is good, because it means you'll also get to meet some of the residents in town." He handed her two identicial packages, wrapped in white paper with a red tie on top. "This one is for Scoot, and this one is for Aurora. Once you deliver those, you can go home for the night."

"Okay- but where do they live?"

"Ah. You'll need a map, then." Nook reached into his apron and gave her one. "They should be home by now, but if they aren't I want you to find them and hand-deliver the mail. After all, it's good customer service. And anyway the village isn't that big."

It was getting dark when Jewel set out to deliver the packages. She could easily read the map when she checked first for Scoot's house, but when she needed to re-orient herself she found it was too difficult to make out in the low light. There were no streetlamps, and the moon was very thin. Jewel stumbled around a bit slower, until she began to make out the joyous sounds of people at play.

In a large clearing of trees sat two cottages, a bit nicer and noticeably larger than Jewel's (she noticed this last part with great resentment.) A green duck and a brown mouse were kicking a blue volleyball back and forth.

"Scoot is the soccer champion!" the duck cried out. "The rising star of the Animal Island Playoffs is looking to become the youngest and most handsome sports star ever! All he needs to do is get the ball past this goal and win!" He kicked the vollyball as hard as he could. It sailed up, easily clearing the mouse's head ears and all. The mouse made a token effort to stop it, but then flopped down in the grass. "That was fun," he said to Scoot. "Now it's my turn to pick what we do."

Scoot sat down next to him. "Aw, that's not fair," he said. "You weren't even trying, zip zoom."

"Sure I was," said the mouse. "It's just that, um, you're so awesome at this game that anyone even slightly less awesome than you looks like they're not trying in comparison, cheeeese."

"Oh!" Scoot seemed impressed.

Jewel cleared her throat. "Excuse me," she said politely. "Are you, um, Scoot?"

Scoot jumped up. "That's me! Scoot the Sports Champion of Animal Island!"

"I'm Chico," said the mouse on the ground. "I'm the napping champion of Animal Island."

"There is no such title," said Scoot.

Jewel raised her voice. "I have something for you."

Scoot said to Chico, "See, I told you the ladies all loved me. My adoring fans won't stop sending me things."

"Actually, it's a delivery," said Jewel. "You ordered something from Tom Nook."

"Oh. Oh, yeah, I remember."

"So," said Chico, "Ol' Nook's runnin' you ragged doing his chores, huh?"

"Um..."

"You must have just moved here."

"Well, not really. I mean, I'm not staying. But he seems to think I am. I don't really know what's going on."

"Oh!" Scoot slapped his forehead. "Duh. I should have guessed. You know, from the uniform." He took the package and opened it. "Sweet! I've been waiting for this, zip zoom!" He pulled out a rug- a rug that was clearly much too small for a house. "It's my new Soccer Flooring so I can practice my kicking inside on rainy days!"

"We never did catch your name," said Chico.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" Jewel blushed. "It's Jewel."

"Jewel, huh, cheeeese?"

"Yeah. Or just Jewel for short."

"Huh? Oh! I get it! Wa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

"This is so great," Scoot was saying under their conversation. Then he spoke up. "Look, Jewel, this is so stellar. Really. I'm pumped. I gotta give you something to say thanks."

"No, no, that's all right." Jewel said, suddenly embarrassed. "I mean, I'm getting paid to do this, it's no big deal-"

"I'll be right back." Scoot said, and he zip zoomed into his house.

"You're not from around here, cheeeese," said Chico. "But favors are kind of a big deal to us. We're all nice and friendly, so don't be shy."

"I'll remember that."

"So, Jewel, when's your birthday?"

"Um... it's the eleventh of September."

"Oh! So that makes you a Virgo, does it?"

"Yep."

"That means you and me are, like, totally compatible. I think."

"Why, what's your astrological sign?"

"Hmm..." Chico pondered that question. "I forget now. But when I remember, I'll send you a letter. Don't you just love mail? Everyone here does, that's for sure. So be sure to send a lot of mail to us. You can even put packages in the letter."

"No extra postage?"

"Postage?"

"I mean, does it cost more?"

Chico looked confused. "It doesn't cost anything."

"Um, okay."

Scoot came barreling back out of the house, holding another rug in his hands. It looked just like the one he had just taken in, actually. "Here," he said. "I put the rug down in my house and it looks fantastic! I was just going to throw this old one out anyway, so here. You can have it. Those shacks of Nook's aren't very friendly on their own."

"That's for sure," said Chico. "He's been trying to unload them forever."

Jewel took the gift. "I really don't know if I should take this..." she looked up into their faces, both of them blank. "Um, thanks, I guess."

"Hey, anytime!" said Scoot. "Well, see you around, zip zoom."

"Right," said Jewel. "I've got to find Aurora, if it's not too late."

"Oh, cool, zip zoom," said Scoot. "She lives just on the other side of the river in acre B-3."

Jewel hurried away, but she thought to herself that she liked Chico and Scoot.

Jewel depended on the directions of Chico and Scoot because it was now too dark to read her map. The fireflies were coming out, though, making pretty dancing lights between the trees and illuminating the path for her. Animal Town wasn't thick with trees like a forest, but it did have a woodsy feel wherever she went.

Jewel passed a house with a panda bear sitting out front. "Hello," she called. "Are you Aurora?" Then she gasped.

This was no ordinary panda. He was pink and black with narrow eyes and a mouth fixed open, full of teeth. He was the creepiest bear Jewel had ever seen, and just looking at him made her tense up. It was quite possible that she was even more frightened of him than that Gyroid Assistant that was outside her house.

"Who are you?" the bear asked.

"M- my n-name is Jewel," said Jewel.

"Hm. My name is Chow," said the bear. "Aurora lives in the house behind me."

"Sorry to bother you." And she scuffled away.

Aurora was just behind the house behind Chow. She was a penguin, and not nearly as scary looking as Chow. Jewel smiled and waved. "Hello!"

Aurora jumped. "Oh!" She turned and saw Jewel. "Oh, hello, b-b-baby," she greeted.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

"Oh, that's all right," said Aurora.

"I have something for you," said Jewel. "It's from Tom Nook. You, um, ordered something?"

"Oh, yes, I did," said Aurora. Jewel handed over the package, and Aurora opened it. "It's a new shirt," she explained. "It's an Aurora Shirt. When I heard the name of the pattern I just had to wear it. My name is Aurora."

"My name is Jewel," said Jewel.

"Have you just moved to Animal Town?"

"N- yeah," said Jewel, deciding not to tell her story again.

"Oh, well, thank you very much for delivering this. Here, let me give you something. You can take the clothes I was wearing before."

"Thank you," said Jewel graciously. She wondered if she could fit into a shirt designed for a penguin, and if there was somewhere here to have it taken in. She did need to replace her vanishing luggage, after all.

Jewel said good night to Aurora and, using her homing skills and the sound of the river, found her way back to her waterfall estate. The gyroid started dancing right away when it saw her, faster and faster as she approached the house. Jewel shuffled quickly past it, trying not to look into those empty eyes as she quickly disappeared into her house.

Once inside, Jewel tossed the rug onto the floor behind her as she walked up the stairs to her attic and lay back down on her bed. Though she had just taken a long afternoon nap, Jewel was still very tired. She lay there awake for a long time, listening to the wind outside, and the sound of water cascading over the cliff.

It was just as relaxing as she thought it would be.

* * *

><p>Morning came, with sunlight streaming in through her open window. It hit Jewel slowly, but when she woke up she immediately felt her stomach knot up. Work. What time was I supposed to show up? Am I late? Did he forget to tell me? Am I supposed to know?<p>

Jewel had slept in her work uniform, and she felt bad. I'm going to stink all day if I have to wear it without washing it. I'm going to stink anyway, there's no bath or shower in this house. What am I supposed to do, just stink like an animal?"

She sniffed herself, but didn't smell anything. Her normal scent was unnoticable to her, but there was no stench of sleep sweat nor the bitter smell of dirt. Jewel chalked that up to good luck and went downstairs.

The floor. The floor was different. Last night the floor had been a shanty flooring, and this morning there was a purple carpet spread all over, reaching right up to the walls. There was a scrap of a rug in the corner.

"Why is my house different," Jewel said out loud. "Why am I here to begin with, anyway?"

Not willing to spend any time near the floor that she was now convinced was haunted, Jewel let herself outside.

"Sproing!" her Gyroid shouted upon seeing her. Jewel screamed and ran a good twenty meters before skidding to a stop and ducking behind the nearest peach tree.

"I hate that thing," she muttered. Then, composing herself, went to Nook's Cranny.

"Good morning!" Tom Nook greeted her as she ducked under the door frame. "Did you sleep well in your new house?"

"Sort of," she said. "I think it might be haunted."

"Why would you say that?"

"The floor is different."

"Did you get a new carpet yesterday?"

"Um... yeah, Scoot did."

"Well, did you toss it on the floor?"

"I... guess I did."

"Well, there's your answer!" Tom Nook laughed again.

"I don't understand."

"Well, time to get to work," said Tom Nook. "I have some more deliveries for you, and I want you to design mailers for the residents in town. Everybody here loves getting mail! Be sure to play up today's spotlight item, would you? And put a notice on the bulletin board outside the train station. That's all I have for you today, so check back with me when you're done and we'll see where we are." With that he dumped a handful of packages into her arms along with a packet of paper.

Jewel made a delivery to Chow and Chico, both of which tipped her a hundred Bells, and there was one more to a villager she hadn't met yet: Lucky. Lucky lived in a house near the beach, so Jewel took some time to stroll by the sea, listening to the waves. It was almost as good as listening to the waterfall. She began to think that staying here for the summer wouldn't be so bad. At home the only sounds she heard were the sounds of the central heating/cooling unit, and outside the sounds of traffic. Sometimes the traffic sounded like ocean waves, but other times the sirens broke the illusion.

"You know," she said to herself, "I'm a city girl, born, bred, and raised, so I never thought much about what it would be like to live in the country. Maybe spending the summer in this weird, weird place won't be as bad as I keep thinking." Then a chill ran down her spine as she heard in her head the "Sproing!" of her gyroid assistant. Perhaps Tom Nook would uninstall it for her, if she asked him nicely.

She found Lucky sitting on the sands of the beach just in front of his house. He was a dog- er, somewhere under the heaps of bandages he had wrapped all around his body. The only parts of him that wasn't bandaged was his black, floppy ears, his wagging tail, and one bright yellow eye. He perked his head up as Jewel approached, and stood up to face her. "Hello!" he said.

"Hi," said Jewel.

"I heard someone was new in town! My name is Lucky, rr-owch."

"My name is Jewel," said Jewel automatically, now very used to introducing herself. "I have a delivery for you from Tom Nook."

"Oh, you're working for him? Well, don't let him run you ragged."

"Why do I keep hearing that...?" She twitched her shoulder and then said, "I guess... um, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, okay, rr-owch."

"What's with all the bandages?"

"Let's just say I'm really, _really_ lucky."

"Ah. Can I ask a different question?"

"Okay."

"I have a bunch of letters to write. Is there anywhere to sit down around here?"

"Try the Roost. You can have coffee while you work."

"Thanks."

"It's in the basement of the Farway Museum, north of here."

* * *

><p>The Farway Museum was large and grand, more posh city than country rustic. For a moment Jewel thought she had stepped out of Animal Town right into the museums of Washington, D.C. To her immediate left was a set of stairs going down with a stand-up board that had a cup of coffee on it. It led to a cozy basement sort of coffee shop. There was a bar, a few tables, and a stage with some unplugged sound equipment in the corner. Behind the counter, a pigeon was drying a small coffee cup. He looked up when he saw her.<p>

"Welcome to the Roost," he said. His name tag said 'Brewster.'

Jewel sat down on one of the stools. "Hey," she said. "Do you mind if I camp here for a while?"

"You want some coffee?"

"How much?"

"300 Bells a cup."

Jewel reached into her pocket and pulled out her tips. "Is this 300 Bells?"

"Coo." Brewster took the money and poured her a cup. Then he placed it on a saucer and left it next to her. Jewel had already pulled out her papers and was thinking on what to write in her first mailer when he finished. "Thanks," she said.

"Better drink it right away," said Brewster.

"It's gotta cool," said Jewel.

"Huh? What? No. No, you have to drink it right away."

"Uh..."

"Joke's over. Drink your coffee."

Jewel took a sip. it was so hot it blistered all the way down, but the flavor was intense, and very good. In fact, it may have been the best cup of coffee she ever had in her life. "I love it," she said.

Brewster nodded once. "Glad to hear it."

Jewel worked on the mailers for a while. Brewster stayed behind the counter, quietly cleaning his cups and wiping the table top. It was peaceful down here, much better than working in the University cafeteria. Down here there weren't any rowdy freshmen, or loud indie bands pounding away, or any chatter at all. In fact, there was nothing but a soft instrumental easy listening tune playing somewhere in the background.

"What are we listening to?" asked Jewel.

"It's K.K. Jazz," said Brewster. "Slider gave me a new boot last time he was here. I like some of his softer tunes."

"Slider?"

"K.K. Slider. He plays here every Saturday night."

Jewel stuffed the last of the mailers into an envelope. "Nice. If I'm still here on Saturday I'll think about dropping by."

"Oh, you'll be here," said Brewster.

Jewel didn't like the way he said that, but she left without asking about it.

* * *

><p>Pelly, the pelican at the post office, was just so gosh darn happy to see Jewel that Jewel couldn't help but smile. "We'll send off these letters as soon as we can. Thanks for your patronage."<p>

Jewel smiled and nodded. She'd given Pelly six letters- five mailers and an extra letter with some stationary paper she'd scrounged up. That letter was addressed to her mother, asking her to get some information about this place. Anything would be great, as she had next to no idea what was going on. But at least she was used to walking around a town filled with giant animals.

The only questions left were 'How' and 'Why.' How did she get herself into this mess, and why did this place exist?


	2. Animal Fossils

Over the next few days, Jewel began to feel increasingly isolated.

The village was small, only something like thirty acres. For a city girl used to the constant visual stimulation that metropolitan living brought, living in a small, tame sort of place was maddeningly dull. There were only five other houses in the village: Chico, Scoot, Aurora, Lucky, and Chow. But there were far more animals living there, ones that seemed to live in their own businesses.

She met Pelly and Pete at the town hall and post office. They were friendly enough but reminded her not to come in at night, else the grumpy Phyllis would be on shift, and she was very difficult. Mayor Tortimer was always around, but being an old tortoise, he was usually napping and Jewel had not been properly introduced to him.

In the Farway Museum, curator Blathers the owl slept the day away. His sister Celeste lived upstairs, although Jewel hadn't met her yet either. Brewster, in the Roost, was nice enough, and Jewel stopped for coffee at least once a day.

For a small town, there might still be crime to stop, and Jewel quickly met Officers Copper and Booker, two police dogs that were constantly vigilante at the station in the southern half of town. Copper frightened Jewel with his stern and professional demeanor, but Booker seemed himself frightened of Jewel. Like the post office at night, Jewel gave the police station a wide berth.

She had seen that there was a tailor's shop, and heard it was run by porcupines, but Jewel had no money to spend on frivolities, and she did tend to fall in love with cute outfits. She kept herself out, but made a note to introduce herself to them if she stayed around much longer.

At night a lighthouse on the beach shone out at sea, the light flashing in Jewel's window. By day she looked out, but saw no boats. There really seemed to be no way in or out of the village, as a matter of fact. The train station was more of a stop, and since she arrived here she saw no trains even pass by. There was also a bus stop near the tracks, but there was no bus schedule, and no vehicle ever passed by.

Jewel also found herself with a lot of time to fill; not two days after Nook hired her had he declared that he'd run out of tasks for her to do, and turned her loose. Oh, she still owed him money for the house, but she'd have to think up ways to make money on her own.

"What am I supposed to do, though?" she asked. "Is anyone else here hiring?"

"Not that I know of," said Nook. "But there's plenty of things to sell, of course. You can collect peaches for me- and if you come across any exotic fruits, I'll pay you more. Cherries, apples, pears, oranges, I'll give you 500 bells apiece. Or I could always use fish and bugs that you could catch. Of course, you might also want to dig for dinosaur bones."

"Dinosaur bones."

"That's right."

"There are dinosaur bones here? Near the surface?"

"I believe so, yes."

"How is that possible?"

"Well, the bones used to be full dinosaurs before they died, and over time wind and rain..."

"Don't patronize me."

"I wasn't."

Jewel shifted uncomfortably. "Well... so, what would you suggest I start with?"

"If I were you, and I were to choose between the fishing rod, the bug net, and the shovel, I would most certainly take the shovel."

"Okay, that sounds good. Ring me up." Jewel picked up the shovel and handed over the 500 Bells on the price tag. "Just out of curiosity, why would you suggest that?"

"The treasures you find underground may be a bit harder to come by than some others, but they can be far more valuable," replied Nook. "And don't forget, there's more than dinosaurs hidden under this town."

"How come nobody found them when they were excavating for the buildings here?"

"No excavation. Besides, back then they would have been too deep."

"Too... deep?"

"That's right- far too deep. Why, back then you couldn't even see the cracks in the ground."

"The cracks in the ground?"

"From where the fossils push up from deep below the surface of the Earth, of course."

"Oh, of course." Jewel decided against saying she had briefly studied archaeology over the summer after her sophomore year, not nearly enough to be any sort of expert, but enough to know that dinosaur bones didn't really turn up at sea level, and they most certainly didn't rise up out of the ground on their own for any reason whatsoever.

But then again, in all her life she never heard of a place where the animals were shaped like people, spoke and understood English, opened shops, and built museums, so she decided to keep her mouth shut from now on and just roll with it. She took the shovel and headed back home, keeping an eye out for cracks in the sidewalk. Jewel wasn't sure what the cracks would look like, so every single line and irregularity in the ground looked like a potential treasure trove to be mined. But the ground gave up nothing.

As Jewel walked, she realized that with the liberation from her part-time job, she was both free and trapped. Free to do anything she wished, but trapped in this little village. With walls on three sides and an ocean on the other, the only way in or out was the train she'd arrived on. How did other people come? Did anyone ever leave? She'd tried asking some of the other residents how long they'd lived here, but they all acted as if the question didn't make any sense to them.

When she reached her house, the gyroid danced excitedly as always. The mailbox now had its flag standing up, signaling that there was mail waiting for her. Jewel hadn't yet received a letter at this new address. Actually, she didn't technically have an address. There was no house number or street sign (or street at all, actually.) The closest way she could be found was "Jewel's House in Animal Town." Her house didn't even have a name on it. It would be "The House by the Waterfall in Animal Town." But she might as well be getting mail at Hobbiton-Across-the-Water for all the good it would do.

Jewel received a total of seven letters. There was one letter from each of the townsfolk- one from Chico, one from Scoot, one from Lucky, one from Aurora, and one from Chow. Oh, and one from Mom! Finally, a response!

Jewel let herself inside and sat down on the carpet. She sliced open the letter from home first and read:

_Dear Jewel,_

_Yesterday I tried to move a painting, but instead it moved me!_

_Love, Mom_

Typical, thought Jewel, putting the letter aside. She moved on to the letter from Aurora.

_Dear Jewel,_

_Thank you so much for your nice letter. Everyone here loves getting mail. I think we're going to be very good friends._

_From Aurora_

And the letter from Chow

_Dear Jewel,_

_What was with that freaky letter you sent me? Try to make some sense once in a while!_

_Steamed, Chow_

The others were much the same, thanking her for the letter as if she'd sent out a heartfelt personal correspondence instead of just scribbling down what was on sale at Nook's and stuffing it in the postbox. And why do they love to get mail so much? Jewel loved receiving mail, too, but the mail she loved was always special event cards, or news from far away. Why did it mean so much to get a letter from someone who lived less than an acre away from you?

Nevertheless, Jewel decided she was going to be nice to these people. Her mother may have been useless in a lot of ways (most of them at the surface of her mind because of Jewel's frustration with her at the moment) but one thing she didn't fail at was raising a considerate daughter. Jewel would write some real heartfelt letters about how happy she was that she met these people and how grateful she was to have friends. Maybe not too over the top, didn't want to come off as creepy, but truly heartfelt.

There was one more letter in the the stack, from something called the Happy Room Academy

_Hey. You. Jewel._

_Look. You. New in town? Come to the city. What's there? The Happy Room Academy. Rate your house. Get points. Hit us up for decorating advice. Bang. Make your house look nice. Come visit ol' Lyle._

_From the HRA. Bang._

In the city. Jewel didn't know how she would ever get to the city, but if she did maybe she would hit ol' Lyle up for some decorating advice. Jewel always had an eye for interior design. Nothing that would pass for professional, but she was good at taking whatever furniture she had and making a room work. Growing up her house was always a hodgepodge of furniture from different places, and her mother had a knack for making a room flow well. Jewel had picked that up from her.

Now that Jewel had a name without a face, that of the unseen Lyle, she wondered if the city here was populated with humans or animals, or maybe a mixture of both. Other humans might be easier to talk to, and they might be in the same situation that she was and therefore understand what she was trying to say. Most of the other animals went blank when she tried to talk about it.

Well, time to get to work. Jewel might not have a job anymore but there was still plenty of work to do. Shovel in hand, she went back outside in the village, and started walking. First she went west until she hit the wall, then went south until she could see all new ground around her, and then went back east. Jewel figured she could cover the whole section of town north of the cliff and west of the river. Actually she could divide the whole town into four sections that way. This way she could systematically search the whole town.

As she was scanning, she ran into Aurora. "Oh, hello, b-b-baby," said Aurora.

"Hi," said Jewel. "Having a nice day?"

"Yes, I'm just out for a walk. I love sunny days like this," said Aurora. "Come to think of it, I like rainy days, too."

"It's nice that we can enjoy days like this," said Jewel. Something in side her gnashed its fangs in frustration. Something about idle small talk drove her bananas. She never had liked talking without a purpose for some reason. Jewel wasn't annoyed with Aurora, and she didn't think less of her for it, but for some reason small talk drove her crazy.

Aurora smiled. Jewel had no idea how a penguin could smile with a beak, but she was looking right at a smiling penguin, plain as day. Jewel felt the corners of her mouth twitching up in a smile. Apparently smiles were contagious today, like laughter or yawning.

"What are you digging for?" asked Aurora.

"Tom Nook says there's dinosaur bones buried around here," said Jewel. "Personally I don't see how that's possible, but, well..."

"Oh, wow," said Aurora. "I love dinosaur bones. I always wanted a Stego Torso in my house. Say, do you think you could dig one up for me? I mean, if you come across one."

"Sure, no problem," said Jewel. "If I see a Stego Torso I'll think of you."

"Oh, wow, thanks, b-b-baby!" That made Aurora happy, and she went along her way singing out loud. Jewel waved goodbye, and Aurora waved back. Then they parted ways.

'Am I a terrible person?' Jewel thought to herself. 'Aurora is a perfectly nice person... penguin... whatever, and she wanted to talk to me, and it's the most irritating thing in the world to you. Why is that? What is wrong with me?'

No sooner was Aurora out of Jewel's line of sight than she came across Lucky, who also seemed to be out on a walk. He was carrying a bug net. Jewel decided to try giving small talk another try. "Catch anything?"

"No, not yet," said Lucky. "I'm looking for cicadas."

"Cool," said Jewel. "I'm looking for dinosaur bones."

"That's nice."

"Hm." Jewel couldn't really think of something else to say. "Aurora wants me to find her a Stego Torso while I'm digging. You want me to find anything for you?"

"No, I'm good," said Lucky. "But if you're doing favors, could you do something for me?"

"Oh, sure," said Jewel. "What do you need?"

"I borrowed a shirt from Chow a while ago," said Lucky, "and he's probably gonna want it back now. Could you deliver it to him for me?"

"Sure," said Jewel, remembering too late that Chow was incredibly creepy. Not as creepy as a gyroid, but creepier than a centipede. Still, she took the No. 23 shirt from Lucky and ducked it away in the ridiculously large pockets of Nook's work uniform and said goodbye, turning off to go find Chow.

She started by going to his house, watching the ground the whole way. She didn't see any cracks in the dirt, and when she got to the house she didn't see Chow must be wandering around, she thought. Well, if she kept hunting for fossils, she was bound to run into him eventually.

As she walked, Jewel passed by one of the town's many peach trees. She'd already started shaking them down and selling the peaches to Nook, and already half the peach trees in town were bare. She didn't have the energy to harvest them all, and besides they didn't all belong to Nook or Jewel or anyone. She was thankful, too, because right now a treat would taste good. On her walk, she plucked a peach out of a tree and bit into it. She closed her eyes and savored as the soft flesh oozed sweet juice onto her tongue, and she appreciated every drop of it.

It occurred to Jewel that she wasn't eating because she was hungry. And then it occurred to her that she'd been here for a few days, and hadn't really _felt_ hungry yet. It must be because I've been snacking on peaches so much, she thought, and drinking so much coffee. But after a few days wouldn't that make me sick?

"Hey!"

Jewel snapped out of her daydream and saw Chow. He was apparently out on a walk too, as he wasn't carrying any sort of tool and he wasn't walking directly towards anything in particular. Jewel waved to him, but he didn't wave back. Instead he narrowed his already slit-like eyes and said, "Is it you who's been picking all the peaches in town?"

"I wasn't picking all of them," said Jewel. "Only about half."

"You'd better not," said Chow, "or else there won't be any peaches left for us. And if you're gonna pick all of them, the least you could do is help out by planting more peach trees. Just bury a peach in the ground and let a new one spring up. That way you won't ruin it for the rest of us."

Jewel immediately felt full of resentment. "I wasn't," she said hotly. "I only picked half of them, and that was so I would have enough money to pay off my house and buy some tools to make money other ways."

"Hmph." Chow wasn't satisfied, but he dropped the issue.

Then Jewel remembered why she was looking for him. "Oh, right," she said to herself, and she took the bundle of clothes out of her pocket. "This is for you. Lucky borrowed it and he wanted to return it."

"Oh, cool, my shirt," said Chow. He took the shirt, and with a flourish, suddenly he was wearing the No. 23 shirt and holding the star shirt in his hands. "Hey, thanks for helping out. Here- you can have my old shirt. I'm done with it."

"Wow. Uh, thanks," said Jewel, taking the star shirt from him.

"You need it," said Chow. "You look terrible in Nook's uniform. Walking around like that all day... aiya."

Jewel decided not to take it personally. Instead she bid a goodbye to Chow and went home straight away to change out of her uniform and into this wonderful new piece of clothing. Chow was right; the uniform did look terrible on her. But this shirt was downright pretty. It was all white, with blue, red, and green stars printed all over it. Jewel wished she had a mirror so she could look at how cute she probably was. Oh, well. Back to work.

With Lucky's task done, all Jewel needed to do now was dig up some dinosaur bones. And not forget that if she found a Stego Torso, it belonged to Aurora. "But still," Jewel said out loud as she closed the door behind her (a loud Sproing! and she scuttled away from her house quickly) "how am I supposed to know where to dig? What does a crack in the ground look like?"

Jewel was walking and not watching where she was going, so she didn't see it until it was too late. She stepped on a crack in the ground, and her foot sunk straight down, dragging her body down into a waist deep pit. "Aaah!" she shrieked.

Scoot jumped out from behind a tree. "Aha! Gotchya, zip-zoom!" Then he saw Jewel and said, "Oh, no, I'm sorry! That was supposed to be for Chico!"

Chico peeked out from a tree on the other side of Jewel and said, "I knew you were waiting for me. I was waiting for you to go away so I could dig it up and plant it somewhere else."

Jewel, meanwhile, pulled herself out of the pit. "What was that?" she asked.

Scoot took out his shovel and went up to the hole, filling it with dirt behind her. "It's a pitfall," he explained. "It's a really fun prank to play on people, zip-zoom."

"Yeah," said Chico. "See, you bury it wherever you want to, and it looks just like any old thing buried there. If somebody's not careful, though, and they step on it then boom! They fall in the pit. It's hilarious, cheeeese."

"I'll bet," said Jewel, wiping all the dirt off of herself.

"Sorry again," said Scoot.

Suddenly a light bulb went off. "Wait, what was that you said about burying it?"

"You bury it for somebody to step on?"

"Yeah- you said it looks like any old thing buried there, didn't you?"

"Yeah."

"So, if I was looking out for a pitfall, it would have a crack like that?" Jewel didn't remember exactly what she'd seen, but now that he mentioned it, she did remember seeing something in the dirt.

"Yeah," said Scoot. "Only you wouldn't know it was a pitfall, zip-zoom. It could be, like, a fossil or some furniture someone buried, or-"

"Oh, okay," said Jewel. "So that's what I'm looking for!"

"Yeah," said Chico.

"Thank you guys so much! You've really helped me out." She looked at both of them, a huge smile on her face. "Is there anything I can do for you to thank you?"

Scoot looked at Chico, who shrugged. "No, not really," said Chico.

"Thanks, though," said Scoot. "I'll let you know if something comes up."

"Please do," said Jewel. She then skipped away, holding her shovel tightly to her chest, looking at the ground, waiting for a light bulb to go off again. She'd seen the crack, and even though she couldn't picture it in her head, she knew she would recognize it if she saw it again.

Bingo! In the south part of town, east of the river, a few paces away from a peach tree she'd emptied yesterday, there it was: a star-shaped crack in the ground. Jewel carefully knelt down and began to dig with her shovel. She clutched it carefully near the bottom, remembering how archaeologists had to be very gentle and use special tools to dig up the delicate artifacts. Jewel didn't have any special excavation tools, or even a trowel, so she used the big all-purpose shovel as carefully as she could.

Victory! There it was, plain as day, a real, actual fossil. Jewel picked it up and held it in her hands in complete awe. Here was an actual piece of ancient history, something that hadn't been seen in millions of years. Maybe these bones had never before seen daylight, and the dinosaur they belonged to had been buried by sediment before his body rotted away and left the fossil. Here was something that had existed longer than she could imagine, and no eyes had seen it before hers.

Actually, maybe Jewel would keep this one as a memento. Well, better see how much it's worth, at least. Jewel didn't put the fossil in her pocket. She tucked the shovel under one arm and carried the fossil gently all the way to Nook's Cranny, cradling it in both hands like one would carry an injured songbird.

Jewel ducked her head as she stepped into Nook's Cranny. "Welcome, welcome!" said Nook happily.

"Hi," said Jewel. "I found a fossil." She showed it to him.

"Oh, very nice, very nice!" said Tom Nook. "Now what you want to do is take it to Blathers and have him identify it."

"Oh?"

"Yes. Once you know what it is, then I'll know how much to buy it for, yes?"

"Oh, okay," said Jewel. She was about to leave when she remembered the letters she needed to write. "I need to buy some stationary."

"Over here," said Nook, nudging her to one of the tables. "Today we have a lovely Petal Paper. A pack of four for 160 Bells."

Jewel picked up the paper. It was pretty, all white with light pink cherry blossom petals decorating the back. It looked like the air in spring at the Cherry Blossom Festival back home in D.C. Of course the beauty in Washington was only a fraction of the beauty of the cherry trees in Japan, or so she'd heard. Jewel wondered if there were cherry blossoms here on Animal Island.

"I need two," she said. "I'm writing to my friends." She did some quick math in her head. Paper came in packs of four, there were five villagers. The lowest common denominator was twenty, or five packs of paper. If she didn't need the extra paper for anything, she would keep writing until she hit that point. Maybe try writing to Mom again and express the seriousness of the situation.

"You're making friends already?" said Nook over Jewel's thoughts. "I'm so glad to hear that. We all want you to be happy here in Animal Town, yes we do."

"Who's 'we'?"

"Everybody, of course," Nook answered, and it was clear that this was as close to an answer as he was going to give her right now.

Jewel left the shop. The sun was setting by now, and since it was the long days of summer Jewel knew that it must be getting late. Well, good. Blathers, as an owl, was always sleeping when Jewel went to see him. It would be nice for him to be awake already.

Sure enough, Blathers was awake this time, and he greeted her warmly. "Welcome!"

"Good afternoon," said Jewel.

"Feel free to browse our exhibits," he said.

"I would," said Jewel. "Except I was already here earlier while you were asleep, and I didn't see anything."

"Yes, yes, it's a real shame, that," said Blathers, a bit sheepish. "You see, this was going to be the pride of Animal Island. We built it outside of the city in the hopes of attracting people to come and visit our town. We did go all out for the building, as you can see..."

"...and you didn't have any money left over for the exhibits?"

"Hoo." Blathers nodded. "If you could be so kind as to keep an eye out for donations. We all may pitch in and together make this place a thing to be proud of."

"I'll keep my eyes peeled... what sort of donations are you looking for?"

"Only the most magnificent!" Blathers puffed up with pride. "Masterful works of art! Relics of the prehistoric world! Specimens of the wild kingdom! Creatures of the sea!"

"So..."

"Paintings, dinosaur bones, insects, fish. Oh, and gyroids."

"Gyroids?" Jewel thought a moment. "Like the one outside my house?"

"Yes, wot? Much like that one, only each gyroid is different. Brewster you see is a collector, and he dreams of having a full compliment of them in the museum, all singing their songs and fascinating us all. Yes, if you find a lovely painting, a fossil, a fish or... an... ugh... insect... shudder... please bring it to me. I will appraise it and set it for display. But Brewster is our resident gyroid expert. Bring all of those statues downstairs to him."

"There are _more_ of those things?"

"Er, yes. Isn't that what we were saying?"

"...Where do they come from?"

Blathers was confused. He didn't see that Jewel's eyes had widened, nor noticed the slight tremble in her hands. "Well... they come from underground. You dig them up."

Jewel visibly relaxed. Good. So they weren't lurking around the corner waiting to SPROING at her. Although she wasn't really sure why she was so afraid of them to begin with, it didn't make it any easier every time she went in and out of her house and that horrible clay _thing_ was dancing like crazy with it's empty, hollow eyes just staring blankly forward.

"Well, I'll, ah, let you know," said Jewel. Then she held out her fossil. "I found this fossil outside. Could you tell me what it is?"

Blathers took the skull and examined it. "Of course," he said happily. Then he squinted carefully, adjusted his tiny spectacles, and examined the fossil. "I have you now, fossil," he said, very confidently. "Aha!" he said at last. "I have it now! It tried to remain anonymous, but none escape identification from Blathers. What you have here is an Icthyo skull, a sea-dwelling species. I must say, this is quite an impressive specimen, and one our current collection unfortunately lacks." Blathers cocked his head and then said, "Might I cajole you into parting with it?"

Jewel thought about it. On the one hand, a dinosaur skull might fetch a really good price, and she didn't know how common it really was to find dinosaur bones. She might just have been lucky today and people go years without finding anything. On the other hand, that was an even better reason to donate it. The museum was here for everybody, and maybe it would be selfish to sell it to Nook and keep the money for herself. Besides, if she gave it to the museum, then she would be able to look at it for the rest of the summer instead of saying goodbye to her fossil right away.

"Okay, take it," said Jewel.

"A thousand thanks!" said Blathers happily. "I'll be sure to take excellent care of it."

"I hope the museum enjoy sit," said Jewel.

"Feel free to browse our exhibits," said Blathers. "Thanks to donations like this, our collection is growing quite nicely."

Jewel said goodbye to Blathers. Instead of leaving, though, she remembered the stationary in her pocket and went down the steps and into the Roost.

So far whenever she went in she heard some soft music playing from Brewster's old tape deck, an instrumental little piece that soothed the surroundings as he washed the dirty coffee cups behind the counter. Tonight, though Brewster was in his usual place, the accompanying soundtrack was different. It wasn't coming from the tape deck. It was live.

Jewel saw a white dog sitting on the stage, impossibly holding a guitar and playing it. He strummed and sang quietly to an empty room. Jewel sat down on her usual stool. "The usual?" Brewster asked.

"Sure," said Jewel.

"That'll run you 200 Bells."

Jewel paid him, and he handed her the coffee. Jewel knew better than to let it cool first, so she took a sip right away. Then she pulled out the paper and got to thinking about what she wanted to write. The music in the background was so nice, though, that she found herself thinking about that instead of the paper in front of her.

"Who's that?" she asked Brewster quietly the next time he passed by.

"K.K. Slider," Brewster said back. "He's here most every Saturday night. It's his tapes I play in here most of the time."

Jewel glanced over her shoulder. "Oh, really?"

K.K. saw her looking at him. He nodded and gestured for her to come over, so she did. K.K. kept playing chords as he said, "Haven't seen you around here before."

"This is my first Saturday here," she replied. "I'm here for the summer."

"Groovy." He adjusted his wrist, and the next chord he played was the first in a new key. "So, look, I take requests. You can belt out the name of the song, or just tell me how you're feelin', what kind of mood you're in. It's all cool."

"Mood, huh?" Jewel shifted her shoulders. "I guess... I feel, well, sort of lonely."

"Lonely, huh?" K.K. hesitated in his playing, and then gave her the slightest smile. "Okay, all you guys out there, this song goes out to Jewel, who's feeling a little lonely tonight. The song is 'Stale Cupcakes.'"

He started playing, and right away jewel felt it. His style was simple, just strumming chords and vocals, but somehow it had a depth to it that Jewel hadn't felt in ages. As the song filled the room, stretching to every corner and hidden depth, wrapping itself around her like a winter quilt, Jewel to keep her warm and snug. She sat down on her stool but still faced the stage, forgetting her coffee and the letters that were still to be written.

There was no one else in the room. This song was just for her, this was a special message from K.K. Slider directly to Jewel. The message was, I know you're lonely. We all get a little lonely sometimes. That's okay. You know, sometimes when I'm lonely, I just go out and find other people who feel the same way. Then we can be lonely together.

Jewel closed her eyes and blanked out all her problems. She could stay in this weird, empty town for all time if it meant she could listen to this song, to feel the way she felt right now. If only she could take this feeling home with her, keep it in her pockets and pull it out whenever she got too confused or afraid, or if life was just happening too much too fast...

Eventually, though, the song ended and Jewel was left on the barstool, the emptiness of the room and of her heart slowly seeping back to her. She opened her eyes slowly, and was pleased to see K.K. looking at her. "Cool," he said. "Thanks for lisening."

Jewel's cheeks flushed pink.

"Check your pockets," he continued. "I laid a boot on you for 'Stale Cupcakes.' Free of charge, man. I'm not in it for the gravy. My music's too pure for the commercial scene. Just slip it in the box back at your pad and you can dig it anytime." He paused as Jewel checked her pockets. "Here's your wallet," he added, handing it back.

Jewel accepted it, and looked at the tape in her hands. It was a commercial blank tape with 'Stale Cupcakes' handwritten on it in black permanent marker. Jewel held it close to her chest and sighed a bit dreamily. Then she shook her head, cleared her mind a bit and said, "Hey, uh, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"How did you get here?"

"Traveled," replied K.K. "It's what I do."

"I know, but... I don't know, I don't know how to get out of town. I mean, how do you travel to and from here every week? Where do you live?"

K.K. gave her a knowing smile, but didn't answer. He turned his attention back to the guitar, and that was the last attention he paid to her that evening. Jewel stayed, though, working on her heartfelt letters at the bar, and Brewster refilled her coffee whenever she managed to finish the cup.

As it neared midnight and K.K.'s set was coming to an end, Jewel had a thought. She took an extra piece of rose petal paper and began to write the first fan letter of her life:

_Dear K.K._

_Thanks so much for playing that song just for me tonight. It really lifts my spirits. You know, I think it's weird being here in this place, but listening to you tonight makes me feel like maybe it's not so scary after all._

_From Jewel._

Jewel slipped the letter in his guitar case when he wasn't looking, and then gathered up her letters and said goodnight to Brewster and K.K.

Jewel went straight home. She could barely see her feet by the moonlight, and the trees hunched in over her blocking what little sliver of the moon there was. The shadows played tricks on her, fooling her into thinking someone was lurking in the woods. Perhaps it was the latent paranoia that came with city living and the high crime rate that was a part of life, but Jewel was afraid walking outside this late at night by herself. She was almost relieved to see the gyroid statue of her home, since she couldn't see the rest of her house and was thankful to see anything indicating her sanctuary. She tried to sneak past it but it saw her anyway, and danced and sproinged excitedly.

Inside Jewel shut the door and leaned on it, as if barring it from the imaginary intruders that now could not get her. She turned on the small lamp on the empty box. With its light she could see her tape deck well enough to slide the cassette into it and hit the "play" button. Right away the music came out of the speakers. But it wasn't the same guitar and vocals she had heard back in the Roost. Instead she was listening to what sounded like a music box, with a gentle, metallic plunking sound hunting out the melody. It sounded softer, more gentle and delicate, but no less powerful than it had sounded back in the Roost.

Jewel lay down on her side, knees hugged to her chest. It was warm in her house, from the muggy summer air outside coming through the window and getting trapped all day. The slight humidity was like a blanket, and although she shivered it was not from cold.

She fell asleep there on the floor of her house, on the soft carpet given to her by a green duck, listening to a hippie dog's idea of a song that's good for you to hear when you're lonely, and for the first time since she got on the train, she felt like things weren't strange.


End file.
